Sixteen weeks ago I promised to write eight biweekly retrospective articles as a way to keep myself accountable to being deliberate with how I spent my sabbatical. For the last time on this sabbatical, here’s what happened over the past two weeks.

(I intend to write one final article looking back at the entirety of my sabbatical sometime in the near future — this article is just focused on the final two weeks of it. Also, this article is a week late because, surprise!, I suddenly became much more time constrained once I started working again.)

Week 15 Notes

Another full week of hitting all my planned workouts (6 days of working out and a rest day): 60 minute threshold bike ride, 40 min Fartlek run, 1600 yard swim, 45 minute easy bike ride, 50 minute long run/1200 yard recovery swim, and a 50 mile bike ride.
After years of idly thinking about getting Lasik, I actually did the work to see whether it’d be feasible for me to do. Had my consultation early in the week and actually scheduled the procedure for later the same week.
Did a few hours of work in preparation for the two workshops I needed to deliver in my first week back at work.
Picked up our wedding bands from the jeweler.
Had a coaching session with a client.
Watched some preseason hockey games.
Had another salsa lesson.
Got tuxedo rentals figured out for my groomsmen and me.
Met with a tattoo artist to talk about my next piece and scheduled it to be worked on in early November.

Week 16 Notes

Had my Lasik post-op appointment. Everything went smoothly and I can see great!
A full week of triathlon training (6 days of working out and a rest day): 65 minute split tempo bike ride, running drills & bodyweight strength, 1,700 yard recovery swim, 17 mile easy bike ride, 3 mile easy run, 1,600 yard swim, and a 20 mile easy ride
Got dinner with some friends from graduate school who were in town
The NHL regular season started!
More prep for the workshops in my first week back.
Flew to Kentucky to attend my grandfather’s funeral.

What Had My Attention

Lasik. Science is cool. Eye surgery is wild.
Hockey season is back. That makes me happy.
Avoidance of my book proposal. I haven’t touched my book proposal in weeks. But I’ve been thinking about it a lot and I’ve come to some fairly important decisions and realizations. I know that sounds like a cop out, but I’m sticking to my guns and saying it isn’t! More to come on this.
Lots of feelings as my sabbatical comes to an end at the same time my grandfather passes away. Grateful that because I was on sabbatical I was able to go to Kentucky this summer and actually see him while he was still feeling good enough for it to feel meaningful.

Recap of Reading & Other Media

Finished the Count of Monte Cristo (finally!)
Abandoned Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgement.
Still working on: Annals of the Former World, Reinventing Scale-Ups: Radical Ideas for Growing Companies
Finished season 2 of Ted Lasso, started and finished season 1 of Squid Game
Haven’t made progress on any of the other shows I’m nominally watching: Bob’s Burgers, Y: The Last Man, What We Do in the Shadows, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, or Tiny World

Personal Metrics Recap

Average Hours Slept Per Night: 8.42/8.18
Average Quality Hours Slept Per Night: 6.02/6.07
Average Deep Hours Slept Per Night: 1.88/1.76
Average Sleeping Heart Rate: 48/48
Average Steps Per Day: 11,731, 9,007
Average Weekly Weight: —/202.7
Days Exercised (out of 7): 7/7
Days Read (out of 7): 7/7
Days Written (out of 7): 0/0
Days Meditated (out of 7): 0/0

Weight has been trending the right way for awhile now. This is the best I’ve felt about myself, physically, in a long time. I’ve even been transitioning all my old large sized t-shirts into new medium ones. It’s a good feeling.